Max’s Journal 3/31/2015

A LITTLE MORE ACCOUNTABILITY, A LITTLE LESS ENABLING

By Max R. Weller

I didn’t realize that it was possible to wear out a pair of Crocs, but due to my odd gait I’m now sporting a hole in the heel of the left shoe. A friend got them for me a couple of years ago, and I’ve worn the ugly things daily since then, even in the snow (my bad hip makes it impossible for me to bend over far enough to put on socks, anyway). They’re cheap, and I’ll be happy to give Walmart more of my money to get a new pair.

Let’s be brutally frank, shall we? We’ll see a Tiny House Village (like the one below) here in Boulder, CO when the devil straps on ice skates. It doesn’t involve millions and millions of taxpayer dollars — serving a relatively small number of the homeless population like the horribly inefficient Housing First model — and nobody is getting awards and nationwide recognition for actually addressing homelessness in a reasonable way, ASAP. Instead, let’s have another phony 10-Year Plan to End (or to “Address”) Homelessness, and continue to make the problem bigger! More backslapping congratulations for Greg Harms and Betsey Martens, too, in case they don’t give themselves enough credit (admittedly, this is unlikely).

Inexpensive and functional

A guy I’d like to see homeless: He’s a closet Republican, who won’t marry his significant other despite having adopted two kids:

King Jared the Pretender (Only in Boulder)

From the Denver Post: Denver may decide soon on public toilet try-out on downtown streets. Two thoughts occur to me:

1) The bums will tear this “loo” up in a very short time; and

2) Other bums will be sleeping in the loo.

A Portland Loo public toilet stands in Portland, Ore. (Photo courtesy Madden Fabrication)

A special announcement will be published here tomorrow! Stay tuned . . .

The Boulder establishment remains CLUELESS, and more

A LITTLE MORE ACCOUNTABILITY, A LITTLE LESS ENABLING

By Max R. Weller

Name any issue you read about in the Daily Camera and two things will most likely be true:

1) City bureaucrats will be “working” to find so-called solutions, which will make things worse in unintended ways; and

2) More money will be spent, lots more money, to little or no positive effect.

Homelessness is one example; municipalization of the local electric utility is another.

> I’m enjoying the warm weather these days, and I wish to invite anyone who wants to do so to stop by the corner of N. Broadway & U.S. 36 to say hello. If I’m not playing the role of humble beggar there in the afternoon, I’ll be sitting on the wall in front of the nearby Mexican restaurant reading a book. Don’t be afraid, if you’re one of the anonymous cowards from the Daily Camera website — I’m really a big teddy bear and wouldn’t hurt a fly.

Handsome devil, too!

> Not much going on in re homelessness, but I don’t hang around with the small minority who are scumbags, so if they don’t make it into the newspaper for some reason I’m blissfully unaware of their drama. I’m just counting down the nights until Boulder Shelter for the Homeless closes its overnight emergency dorms for men and women, after which it will be much more pleasant in the mornings for us hardy outdoor-types who come for a hot shower.

> Tonight at my campsite: Ecce Panis bread from King Soopers with marinara sauce for dipping. It tastes great, and is also soft enough for me to chew. Other artisan breads I’ve tried could be used to club down the bums who roam around my neighborhood, looking for stuff to steal, but even so a baseball bat is a better choice.

Cyberstalkers update, and more

 A LITTLE MORE ACCOUNTABILITY, A LITTLE LESS ENABLING

By Max R. Weller

Read Longmont police: Man stabbed over Facebook post from the Daily Camera. My online comment is copied here:

Easy for me to believe, given that there are several cyberstalkers here on the Daily Camera website: mstdye/bndr, travispickle, haydukelives1, haydukelives2, haydukelives3, et al.

I hope they don’t try to hurt anybody with a knife, but you never know . . . 

(And if they try to hurt me, I expect I’ll be able to take care of myself.)

> Sometimes, the DC serves up a fastball right down the middle of the plate: Virtual Editorial Board: Earth Hour. My online remarks follow:

I don’t have any lights at my homeless campsite, nor do I light candles there.

Sorry, but I’ll have to pass on the St. Julien, too.

Earth Hour seems like an event for the well-heeled, who wish to feel good about themselves — which is the same reason they support the FAILED homeless shelter/services industry here in Boulder, CO. Just another wealthy elite affectation.

> In the Denver Post: 32 indicted in massive Colorado marijuana trafficking investigation. Quoting from the report:

The 32 people indicted in the case range in age from 25 to 71. They [face various] charges of racketeering, felony cultivation and distribution of marijuana, money laundering, tax evasion, attempt to influence a public servant and conspiracy.

Those charged are: Tri Trong Nguyen, 39; Thomas Claire Dispanet, 40; Cuyler Gerbich, 39; Kristine Claretta Root, 37; Michael Patrick Glick, 34; Aaron Matthew Ellering, 39; Aubrey Charles Keesling, 39; Ryan Joseph Farrow, 30; Josie Phuong Farrow, 43; Sheila Thi Kieu Lorenz, 45; Oanh Tran, 48; Veon Deloy Hatch, 42; Patrick Joseph Concannon, 37; Joseph Johnson, 43; Nicholas Alan Kuhl, 37; Douglas Dunlap, 47; Micah Peterson, 33; Antonio Domenico Orfei, 33; Lindsay Geinert, 37; Andrew James Wylie, 37; John Rodger Magee, 37; Jessica Peterson, 34; Alicia Rainey, 71; Anh Thi Nguyen, 37; Jason Joyner, 28; James Chad Averette, 28; Tiffany Gille, 34; Everett Grove, 25; Adam Tilley, 28; Anthony Smith, 27; Matthew Olson, 40; and Jordan Iovinella, 34.

> I’d love to live in an old barn, where the resident owls would keep the rodent population in check:

Somewhere in Colorado

> Here’s another interior view of the overpriced — $200,000 per unit —  Housing First apartments at 1175 Lee Hill:

Boulder Shelter for the Homeless Facebook photo

OM Build in Madison, WI can construct a Tiny House with the same amenities for $5,000 per unit. That means forty (40) homeless men and women could be housed for the same cost as one (1) HF apartment.

Somebody must be getting rich off of this Housing First scam here in Boulder, CO. Don’t hold your breath waiting for any criminal investigation, however . . .

> Tonight at my campsite, for all of the owls I hear around there at night: all-you-can-eat voles.

Boulder, CO Civic Area improvements, and more

A LITTLE MORE ACCOUNTABILITY, A LITTLE LESS ENABLING

By Max R. Weller

Miles Clawson, 8, fishes with his father, Chris Clawson, in Boulder Creek just off Central Park on Tuesday. (Mark Leffingwell / Staff Photographer)

See Boulder presents new hybrid plan to remake downtown Civic Area from the Daily Camera. My online comment is copied below:

If you don’t change this, you can’t hope to change the so-called Civic Area: https://homelessphilosopher.wordpress.com/april-2…

A big step to positive change would be to condemn the transients’ day center nearby as a Public Nuisance: https://homelessphilosopher.wordpress.com/2015/02…

BTW, I wonder, how do the fish enjoy all of the human waste deposited in Boulder Creek from Eben G. Fine Park and elsewhere downstream? It was Jim Budd who proposed officially turning over this park to the bums a few years ago, when he was the darling of Boulder’s homeless shelter/services industry and the go-to source in re homelessness for the Daily Camera.

#164310, currently at Kit Carson Correctional Facility

> Interesting story from Lyons, CO also in the DC: Lyons voters reject proposal for flood replacement housing at Bohn Park.

> See also: A student’s reasoning for refusing the PARCC. My remarks on the DC website follow:

Counting only the word “I” and not any other personal pronouns, young Kate used it no fewer than seventeen (17) times in her commentary.

This focus on self will NOT help Ms. Richardson when she enters the Real World as it exists outside of Fairview High School in Boulder, CO.

> It’s snowing now in north Boulder (at 9:30AM), according to the National Weather Service, but I expect to be quite cozy in my burrow reading a book and snacking on unhealthy foods. I can afford to take a day off from playing the role of humble beggar at N. Broadway & U.S. 36, leaving that to the Housing First residents from 1175 Lee Hill who wish to panhandle there — despite all of the cash benefits and other social services they receive from taxpayers. I make do with no more than what my kindhearted supporters freely choose to donate, and I live better than the HF “clients” do, even without a brand new $200,000+ apartment in permanent supportive housing.

That’s all for now, folks . . .

Do-gooders enabling the transients who come to Boulder, CO

A LITTLE MORE ACCOUNTABILITY, A LITTLE LESS ENABLING

By Max R. Weller

(Photo courtesy of Christina Gosnell)

Don’t misunderstand, I think it’s great to help Boulder County’s own homeless people — especially families with kids. I applaud that part of Boulder Food Rescue’s mission.

Aiding the sociopathic and parasitic bums from Denver and elsewhere, whose “mission” is to trash themselves and their surroundings wherever they travel, is another matter entirely. The only help they should each be given is the $5 bus ticket on RTD back to the Mile High City, along with a couple of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and a bottle of water to-go . . .

As to the issue of food waste, I see this firsthand every morning in the dining room at Boulder Shelter for the Homeless — “clients” load up their trays with food, throw half of it away, and then go back for seconds.

They’re drawn here by Boulder’s nationwide reputation as the Big Rock Candy Mountains dreamed of by bums:

One evening as the sun went down
And the jungle fires were burning,
Down the track came a hobo hiking,
And he said, “Boys, I’m not turning
I’m headed for a land that’s far away
Besides the crystal fountains
So come with me, we’ll go and see
Boulder, Colorado.”

In Boulder, Colorado,
There’s a land that’s fair and bright,
Where the handouts grow on bushes
And you sleep out every night.
Where the boxcars all are empty
And the sun shines every day
And the birds and the bees
And the cigarette trees
The lemonade springs
Where the bluebird sings
In Boulder, Colorado.

In Boulder, Colorado,
All the cops have wooden legs
And the bulldogs all have rubber teeth
And the hens lay soft-boiled eggs
The farmers’ trees are full of fruit
And the barns are full of hay
Oh I’m bound to go
Where there ain’t no snow
Where the rain don’t fall
The winds don’t blow
In Boulder, Colorado.

In Boulder, Colorado,
You never change your socks
And the little streams of alcohol
Come trickling down the rocks
The brakemen have to tip their hats
And the railway bulls are blind
There’s a lake of stew
And of whiskey too
You can paddle all around it
In a big canoe
In Boulder, Colorado.

In Boulder, Colorado,
The jails are made of tin.
And you can walk right out again,
As soon as you are in.
There ain’t no short-handled shovels,
No axes, saws nor picks,
I’m bound to stay
Where you sleep all day,
Where they hung the jerk
That invented work
In Boulder, Colorado.
 
I’ll see you all this coming fall
In Boulder, Colorado. 

Apologies to Harry McClintock, who wrote and performed these lyrics back in Great Depression days, but there have been many different versions of the song by various artists (including Burl Ives) down through the years. Consider my slight revisions to the words as an update, reflecting our circumstances here circa 2015.

Read Cut the crime rate: close Bridge House.

That’s all for today, folks.

24 nights left for transients at Boulder Shelter for the Homeless, and more

 

A LITTLE MORE ACCOUNTABILITY, A LITTLE LESS ENABLING

By Max R. Weller

April 15th will be the last night this season. Good riddance to this year’s crowd of bums from Denver and elsewhere! It’s so much quieter and cleaner during the six months over the summer when this place is only open from 6-8AM every morning . . .

Part of the problem has been so many new staff members at BSH who apparently haven’t been properly trained to deal with the “clients” they’re supposed to supervise during the overnight hours. Example from yesterday morning: As I was waiting at the north door for the facility to open at 6AM, I observed yet another new homeless guy come into the area by the front intake office with one of the newer female employees. In my opinion — speaking as one who has previous work experience at homeless shelters in other cities — there’s entirely too much casual conversation in the guise of counseling going on at BSH and this episode went beyond that. The young lady perched on the counter, as the homeless guy paced back and forth, and at one point he stood closer to her than seemed appropriate to me. Within a few minutes after their talk began, which I’m happy NOT to have been able to hear, her legs were beginning to swing back and forth as she sat on the counter. Excuse me, but this is the body language of a woman beginning to respond to a man’s come-on; it’s NOT what you would expect from anyone in a position of authority over some transient from who-knows-where.

YECCH!

Altogether, they conversed/flirted for 15 minutes, before it was time to open the door for us hardy outdoor-types to enter.

If the Homeless Philosopher were to be put in charge of training staff, I’d drill one lesson into their heads above all others — homeless people are almost always in full BS mode whenever they’re talking to anyone in authority. You must take whatever they say with that in mind, or the bums are certain to bamboozle you.

Believe me, the young lady in the incident described above can’t possibly be lacking for the attention of men who are her peers, being rather good-looking (albeit naive).

> A brief light shower last night, and thunderstorms in the forecast for this PM, but I’ll remain warm and dry in my burrow. And I have half a box of Girl Scout cookies left to snack on, the shortbread variety, and the mice ain’t getting a single one:

> I have to laugh at parents who are allowing their precious little darlings to opt out of standardized tests in local school districts. What’s going to happen to these self-centered youngsters the first time they face a critical evaluation on the job? “Mommy told me I don’t have to participate!” This won’t fly, not at all:

The [Boss] Can’t Keep Me Down!

Maybe they all expect to be trustafarians, in which case a lot of them are bound to be traumatized by reality.

> Too many violent, crazy characters are wandering around as evidenced by recent crimes in Longmont, CO. Civil rights? Humbug! Society has a right to protect itself, and this has been forgotten in too many cases. The killers need to be in secure psychiatric facilities 24/7 forever; there’s no effective treatment for these poor souls.

Tonight at my campsite: Whatever I find on sale this morning at King Soopers on Table Mesa.

Irony defined at CU’s Norlin Library, and more

A LITTLE MORE ACCOUNTABILITY, A LITTLE LESS ENABLING

By Max R. Weller

> As I had nearly completed my morning stroll across CU’s Norlin Quad, and was once again perplexed by the display of Pink Crosses near Norlin Library, I spotted something new: two sandwich boards had been set up by the west library entrance proclaiming that CU is a SMOKE-FREE campus. All around were cigarette butts; it seems to me that it would have been wiser to clean up the smokers’ trash first, before announcing anything SMOKE-FREE. I’m glad that CU is trying, anyway.

> Great column by Sean Maher, which I just noticed this morning, What is Boulder afraid of? As for me, I’m delighted by both residential and commercial development I see, except for the Wet House at 1175 Lee Hill.

> Read this commentary in the Daily Camera, Colorado homeless deserve Right to Rest bill. My online comment is copied here:

What does this mean, a RIGHT to rest?

Nancy Peters asks, “What are your chances of being harassed, ticketed or arrested in Colorado for simply trying to exist as an unhoused person?” For me, the answer is ZERO despite the fact that I’ve lived as a homeless man in the same north Boulder neighborhood for over seven years.

I have no difficulty at all with either law enforcement or with my neighbors in my daily life; this is because I don’t behave in a drunken, obnoxious, self-centered way which is calculated to attract the attention of the authorities as a de facto form of protest. I speak out directly to issues which concern me, and do-gooders coddling the small minority of homeless people who are (in effect) giving society the finger is of GREAT CONCERN.

A pox on the bad actors who make all of us look like bums, and another pox on their apologists/enablers who are making homelessness into an industry that perpetuates the problem, neither “ending” it nor effectively “addressing” it.

> Meme of the day:

No, not at all. Greg Harms does make $90,000 per year as executive director of Boulder Shelter for the Homeless, however, so why shouldn’t he be happy? Cute blonde, too.

> I usually don’t go for novels that deal with the paranormal, but I just finished “The City” by Dean Koontz. There is one passage in this book which really got my attention, on pages 160-161 of the paperback version, and it’s copied below (for purposes of my review here, of course):

Back then, I had a narrow definition of heroism. My conclusion that Mr. Yoshioka lacked courage arose from ignorance, as later I would learn. After you have suffered great losses and known much pain, it is not cowardice to wish to live henceforth with a minimum of suffering. And one form of heroism, about which few if any films will be made, is having the courage to live without bitterness when bitterness is justified, having the strength to persevere even when perseverance seems unlikely to be rewarded, having the resolution to find profound meaning in life when it seems the most meaningless.

Wow! Great piece of writing.

Have a good weekend, everybody! Back on Monday.

Homeless romance a.k.a. street marriage

A LITTLE MORE ACCOUNTABILITY, A LITTLE LESS ENABLING

By Max R. Weller

Homeless couple on street in San Francisco, CA

This is something I’ve never been tempted to become a part of during all the years I’ve been homeless, since early 2008 in Boulder, CO. And having observed many dysfunctional, often abusive, couples living on the streets here I’m about ready to conclude that they’re ALL mentally ill.

I’m talking about long-term relationships, of course, not “hooking up” to gratify one’s lustful desires; I’ve been tempted more than once by the latter, but the homeless women were attractive and clean and friends I’d known for a while. In the end, I decided NOT to risk ruining a perfectly good, uncomplicated friendship. Besides, I’m an ascetic.

Frankly, I can’t remember ever being drunk enough during the thirty years I spent with Jim Beam to have wanted to bed some dirty, smelly, crazy Rainbow-type chick with hairy armpits worthy of a steel mill worker. To me, only tubal ligation or vasectomy would be more effective means of birth control than the sight of a woman’s hairy armpits:

The hardware in her face is also damn ugly . . .

But, I digress . . .

The typical street marriage of a homeless couple has no legal standing whatsoever, despite the fact that the clueless couple will refer to each other as “husband” and “wife” — along with a lot of other foul names I won’t repeat on my blog. I guess if misery loves company, you might enjoy having a partner to keep dragging down into the gutter, and vice versa. For each loving homeless couple who are supporting each other in an attempt to gain a better life (possible even if they remain homeless), I’ve observed ten couples who are constantly at war both verbally and physically. Drunk and stoned, besides.

What’s the point? You can behave stupidly by yourself.

One of these couples still owes me $20 that I foolishly loaned them way back in 2010 for cigarettes, and they’re on the outs again, with one remaining in subsidized housing and the other at Boulder Shelter for the Homeless. I have no doubt that eventually the two will get back together, but I’ll NEVER see that twenty dollars again.

That’s all for now, folks. “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”

Is Spring coming early to Colorado this year?

A LITTLE MORE ACCOUNTABILITY, A LITTLE LESS ENABLING

By Max R. Weller

Somewhere in Colorado

I enjoy the wildflowers around my campsite in north Boulder, too, but the pesky voles have moved in and dug up the ground to the point where I don’t know what plant life can survive. I’d never seen these varmints until this winter, and despite being much smaller than prairie dogs, they wreak a like amount of havoc with their incessant burrowing . . . Is it roots they’re eating? The mice I can live with, but voles are like mice on steroids:

Microtus ochrogaster

You can be sure that I don’t share peanut butter and crackers with these destructive critters.

Emergency overnight shelter at Boulder Shelter for the Homeless will be ending for the winter season after the night of April 15th, according to the BSH website. I always look forward to this harbinger of better times, because it means there will be a lot fewer people using the facility in the morning, plus it will be cleaner and smell better. Until the transients return when BSH opens again on October 15th, that is; over half of these characters come from other cities and states just to grab the free resources that ought to be available exclusively to Boulder County’s own homeless residents. Boulder, CO will NEVER be able to manage the influx of transients every year, until the nonprofits prioritize shelter/services for locals who are in need. Example: Haven for Hope in San Antonio, TX.

I’m sad to report seeing a young man board the SKIP bus northbound yesterday, shortly before noon, and refuse to pay the fare. The driver, of course, informed him that he’d be taking a chance on being caught by one of RTD’s supervisors or Boulder PD, and that riding without paying a fare is a crime. The delinquent got off at Elder & N. Broadway, and walked up to Attention Homes. This is what saddens me; I’ve supported this organization in the past, but if they’re going to serve as a refuge for self-centered punks . . .

Those of you who hand out marijuana at the corner of N. Broadway & U.S. 36 should understand that I don’t smoke it myself, and I’d prefer not to have to find someone to give it to. Why not just keep the stinking weed to yourself? I hate to be impolite, so I accept everything that generous passersby want to give me, but I can do without marijuana.

Tonight at my campsite: corn chips and salsa.

Emergency shelters for the homeless are human warehouses

A LITTLE MORE ACCOUNTABILITY, A LITTLE LESS ENABLING

By Max R. Weller

I’m referring specifically to Boulder Shelter for the Homeless and the various sites operated by Boulder Outreach for Homeless Overflow. Somewhere in America, there surely is a place for street people to stay overnight in decent conditions — clean surroundings with peace and quiet prevailing, and staffed by those who can recognize the bad actors who make life miserable for other homeless men and women — but that place is NOT to be found in Boulder, CO.

BSH intake area

Does this look to you like a dignified way to bring those in need out of the cold? BTW, you have to play the lottery to get a bunk; if you’re unlucky and draw a high number, you’ll be turned away. In that case, you could wind up here:

One of the BOHO emergency warming centers (location withheld by me)

What the tarps spread all over the floor indicate to me is that this this particular church thinks that ALL homeless people they host are filthy and vermin-infested, and can be expected to vomit everywhere except into a toilet. Maybe the other churches and a synagogue also do this, I don’t know; NEVER have I cared to stay overnight at BOHO after hearing the stories from those who have.

I’ll add that I haven’t stayed overnight at BSH since April 30, 2010. I’ve had my fill of being crammed together with too many others in a confined space (you can imagine the smells and noises throughout the night for yourself), and I’m very grateful to have learned how to survive outdoors in wintertime AND to have made friends who will take me into their home when necessary.

I can tell you from firsthand experience of homeless shelters and jails/prisons: Conditions in the typical homeless shelter intended for emergency overnight use are far worse than can be found in any jail or prison! The federal Department of Justice doesn’t hesitate to crack down on jails and prisons which dehumanize inmates — but NOBODY is looking out for the welfare, both physical and psychological, of street people in desperate straits who wind up in substandard facilities.

Yes, yes, I can hear you . . . You’re asking for a better alternative than the current system. Fair enough:

Proposed Tiny House Village in Portland, OR

These single occupancy housing solutions for homeless adults are popping up all over the country in more progressive cities, while Boulder lags behind with the old, discredited model of projects costing many millions of dollars. Consider that a tiny house offers privacy, security, and the opportunity for restful sleep overnight . . . OM Build in Madison, WI can turn out a tiny house for $5,000. Contrast that with the $200,000+ Housing First apartments at 1175 Lee Hill, being touted as permanent supportive housing. Keeping those dollar figures in mind, which do you think is better — one apartment for a program client or forty (40) tiny houses for single men and women who need shelter from the elements?

It should be a no-brainer to pick the best option.